Lot 405: Alexander Charles Stuart (Scottish/American,

Alexander Charles Stuart (Scottish/American, 1831-1898), "The Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip", oil on canvas, signed lower left, 30 in. x 50 1/4 in, in a period giltwood frame. Note: Born in Glasgow, Scotland, then a major shipbuilding capital, Alexander Stuart was both an artist and a sailor who served in the United States Navy between 1863 and 1866 after immigrating to the United States in 1860. During the Civil War years, Stuart gained the knowledge and ideas necessary for the creation of his Civil War battle scene paintings, which are accurately and elegantly portrayed. Stuart painted many famous naval battles such as the CSS Virginia battling the USS Cumberland on March 8, 1862, and the CSS Virginia versus the USS Monitor on March 9, 1862. The Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip also took place in 1862, as the Union Navy attacked the two forts on the Mississippi River that protected the city of New Orleans. Because Stuart did not join the Union Navy until 1863, we must assume that he gathered his information from descriptions of these battles, either from contemporary newspapers or at a later date from his fellow seamen. The Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip, depicted here by Stuart, took place on April 24, 1862, on the Mississippi River. After five days and nights of continuous mortar shelling of the forts, Admiral David G. Farragut, who led the attack by the Union Navy, decided that the forts could not be defeated and instead tried to bypass them, sending his ships up the river to New Orleans. Despite their best efforts, the Confederate ships and the two forts could not conquer the Union Navy, and the battle ended with the capture of Forts Jackson, St. Philip, Livingston, Pike, and the city of New Orleans. From records of the description of the battle, and from scenes such as the famous Currier & Ives print of 1862, now located in the U.S. Navy Art Collection, this painting seems to be a precise portrayal of this famous night battle. In fact, it greatly resembles the painting Farragut's Fleet Passing the Forts Below New Orleans by Mauritz Frederik Hendrik De Haas, located at The Historic New Orleans Collection; De Haas was friends with Admiral Farragut and was advised by him on many of the details of the battle. From the fiery river to the smoky atmosphere, to the citadel tower of Fort Jackson in the background, Stuart's painting accurately details the events of this epic battle. References: Gerdts, William, George E. Jordan, and Judith H. Bonner. Complementary Visions of Louisiana Art. The Historic New Orleans Collection, 1996. www.americancivilwar.com